Da Girlz

Twiggy (top) and Metoo (Mimi, below) are our girls. Both girls were supposed to be foster dogs, but ended up staying for good. Twiggy came to us as an owner-surrender via the Wisconsin Humane Society. She was going to go live with Mama Wendy in Illinois, but she wasn't very polite to Mama Wendy's other dog, so she came back home to Hundenruhe. We decided that she could stay, because little Miss Mimi needed a friend. Twig is five, and is a toy fox terrier. She has a few white hairs on her forehead, so I tell her that's where the angels kissed her to remind her to be good. She loves playing fetch more than anything else on the planet, and runs like the wind on her stubby legs, tryng to get her toy, and barking to scare off any birds flying overhead. (How dare they fly over "her" house!)
Mimi is a puppy mill puppy, and is another dog saved by our vet's office. She came to us covered in ugly sores and raw skin due to a condition called atopic dematitis. Due to the dermatitis and her lack of early socialization, Mimi didn't get handled much by her previous family, causing lasting developmental and social problems. With a lot of ointment, oral medication, special food, and love, today Mimi is a healthy four year old rat terrier, but she still can't handle strangers of any kind or children. So on the day before Mimi was set to go to her foster home in Minnesota, she crawled up on Dan's lap, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Me, too? Can I stay, too?" Soft-hearted Dan consented, Mimi got a new name, and she is a lasting reminder of why puppy mills need to be put out of business. She will always need to be put in a separate room when we have guests at the sanctuary because the stress makes her ill. Mimi's great with Dan and I, however, so she will have a loving home here until she goes to the Bridge one day (hopefully) well into the future.